


Nail Polish

by pinkpallet



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Fluffy, M/M, Oneshot, Palletshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 11:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18051416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkpallet/pseuds/pinkpallet
Summary: Ash finds out two of Gary's secrets. What will he do with them? (An alternate take on one of my favorite Kanto episode).





	Nail Polish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissWonnykins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissWonnykins/gifts).



**Note:- This is a birthday gift for Wonnykins who wanted something where Ash discovers that Gary lets the cheerleaders paint his nails. Hope you like this Wonny and happy birthday again! :D**

**Nail Polish**

* * *

 

Gary Oak sighed. He had been waiting outside the Celadon City Department Store for almost an hour now. His cheerleaders had gone inside to ‘have a quick look’ at the various items on sale, but had still not returned. He was pretty sure that when they finally return it would be with bags filled to the brim with different stuff. Not that Gary had a problem with that, but he just didn’t see any point in wasting any further time in this city. He had won his badge, now it was time to move on to the next city and next gym.

Just then, he heard a voice calling him from behind, “Gary! Hey, Gary!”

Gary turned around and was surprised to see that the person calling him was none other than Ash Ketchum. His childhood-best-friend-turned-rival. For a moment he almost wanted to smile back at Ash, but then that moment was gone and putting on an arrogant smirk on his face, he asked Ash,

“What’s up Ashy-boy? Did the Celadon City Gym Leader beat you?”

“What? No way! I haven’t even challenged them yet. But I am sure I’ll win!” Ash answered confidently, and then asked, “Did you face them?”

“Oh yes Ashy, and let me tell you, she is extremely strong. But I still managed to win!” Gary answered proudly.

“Really?” Ash asked in a disbelieving tone.

“See for yourself,” Gary said, and showed off his rainbow badge that he had won at the Celadon City Gym.

Ash almost grabbed his hand eagerly in his excitement to examine the badge in detail. Gary looked at Ash’s face. He was looking both surprised and slightly shocked. Gary wondered whatever was so special about his new badge and looked down only to gasp in horror.

Ash wasn’t staring at the badge. He was staring at the bright red nail polish that Gary’s cheerleaders had applied to his nails just last night.

Gary yanked his hand free from Ash’s grasp and whispered in a threatening tone, “Don’t you dare tell anyone about that Ketchum!”

“About what?” Ash asked, sounding confused.

“You know perfectly well what I am talking about,” Gary said angrily.

“You don’t want people to know you have the Rainbow Badge, but why? Wait, did you get it illegally or something? Gary, tell me everything honestly!” Ash spoke in an equally angry tone.

Gary felt like face-palming. Ash hadn’t seen the nail polish at all. He thought Gary was talking about the badge. Gary was actually a little hurt to realize that Ash would think he could cheat or get his badge illegally.

“I got the badge by defeating the gym leader in a perfectly fair battle!” Gary exclaimed, and then to change the topic, he asked Ash, “So, where are your friends?”

“Oh, Pikachu, Misty and Brock are in that perfume shop on the other side of the street. Where are your cheerleaders?” Ash asked him.

“In the department store over here,” Gary pointed to the large six-storey building next to them. Celadon city had lots of shops and stores.

Just then it struck Gary that he had had an almost normal conversation with Ash. The way one would have with a friend. Without feeling the need to taunt him or say anything rude even once. He smiled to himself. Maybe, there was still some hope for their friendship.

“I should go and check what my cheerleaders are doing. Otherwise they’ll buy the whole store,” Gary said with a laugh and turned to leave. He wanted to end this conversation on a positive note. Just once when he and Ash didn’t started arguing about things.

“Okay, bye Gary. Oh, and by the way, your red nail polish is looking amazing! My mom also puts on nail polish of that color sometimes,” Ash told him with a smile.

Gary blinked. So Ash had seen it. Thankfully, he hadn’t found it weird because this is Ash. But the very fact that his rival had seen it was embarrassing enough for Gary. He ran inside the department store without so much as glancing back at Ash again.

* * *

 

 Ash stared after Gary with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He had no idea why Gary had run away like this. Ash blinked a few times in confusion, then decided to shrug away the whole incident.

He waited for Misty, Brock and Pikachu for some more time, but it looked like they weren’t going to come out of the perfume shop any time soon. Ash was getting bored and impatient as the wait grew longer. He couldn’t help but glance at the large department store which Gary had entered every couple of minutes or so. He knew Gary was in there and he also knew he wouldn’t be interested in the whole deal of buying perfumes. Maybe Ash would finally get some company to spend time with?

Ash knew Gary would probably laugh and call him a loser if he found out that Ash was desperate enough to spend time with him of all people. But Ash had enjoyed talking with him today. It had almost felt like when they were kids. A part of him wondered whether Gary was just in a better mood today and he would get to talk to more of the nicer Gary again.

Thinking these things, Ash entered the large department store and started his search for Gary and his cheerleaders. It took him about twenty minutes to finally spot them. They were on the fourth floor just slightly hidden from Ash’s sight by shelves upon shelves of different types of evolutionary stones kept for sale. But he could hear their voices alright.

“So, are you hundred percent sure that Ash Ketchum found out about the nail polish thing?” one of Gary’s cheerleaders spoke.

“Yes Lucy, he specifically complimented my red nail polish. And said his mother wears a similar shade. How can this mean anything else?” Gary’s voice could be heard this time.

Ash leaned in a little closer to hear better. They were talking about him after all.

“So do you want us to stop putting nail polish on you?” another girl asked in a slightly worried tone this time.

Ash was a little amused upon finding out that Gary lets his cheerleaders put nail polish on him. Altough he did knew that it was totally alright and not at all weird or strange in any way. His mom had made sure he knew these things.

“No! I like it when you put nail polish on me. It makes my nails look really pretty and I love that. Besides, I suck at applying it myself, you all are experts at it,” Gary said immediately.

“Great! So, what now?” a third cheerleader asked.

“We ignore Ash and get more nail polish for Gary!” the girl named Lucy exclaimed.

“No we can’t do that. What if Ash tells someone? What if people start laughing at me? I should have remembered to remove the nail polish in the morning itself. I forgot to remove it and that was a huge mistake,” Gary mumbled.

Ash felt really sorry for him. Gary shouldn’t have to feel so worried or guilty. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. Ash wanted to reassure him that he wouldn’t tell anything to anyone.

But just before he could move out of his hiding place, he heard one of the cheerleaders speak, “You had said once that this Ash Ketchum used to be your best friend, right? And he cared about you a lot, didn’t he?”

“That’s true Andrea,” Gary muttered.

“Well then, I don’t see what you are worrying about. He would understand not to tell this to anyone,” she said to him.

“I hope so,” Gary said.

“Gary, you never really told us why you and Ash drifted apart. I mean, what happened between you two?” another cheerleader asked.

“He was my best-friend. But grandpa started favoring him a lot, which made me slightly jealous. I also had a crush on him which complicated everything,” Gary spoke in a soft tone.

To say that Ash was shocked would be an understatement. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. It all made sense to him now, why Gary had suddenly started being rude towards him.

And the crush part, Ash had no idea what to make of it. He had never even given a thought to whether he liked Gary that way or not.

Just then one of the cheerleaders spoke, “You look really sad Gary. We should talk about something else. Did you found the purple colored nail polish you were looking for?”

“No, I wanted it so that it would match the purple color of my shirt. But none of the stores have nail polish of that exact shade,” Gary spoke sadly.

“Don’t worry we’ll find it for you!” Lucy exclaimed.

“And we have been spending a lot of time over here. We really should get going,” the cheerleader named Andrea spoke.

Ash panicked upon hearing that. He didn’t wanted Gary or the girls to find out that he was eavesdropping on their conversation. So he hurried out of the department store as fast as he could. The moment he was outside he saw Pikachu, Misty and Brock waving at him from across the street. Ash crossed the street to join his friends.

“Where have you been Ash? We were looking for you everywhere!” Misty asked him.

“I was just in the opposite shop,” Ash told her.

“So you were also shopping huh?” Brock asked him.

“No, it’s not that!” Ash exclaimed, “It’s just that-“

But he didn’t had to do anymore explaining, because at that precise moment, Gary and the cheerleaders stepped out of that shop, completely engrossed in some discussion.

“You spent your time with _Gary_?” Brock asked him with surprise.

“Ash probably wanted to battle him,” Misty suggested.

“I didn’t. I just found out that he has already won the Celadon City Rainbow Badge,” Ash told his friends.

“Oh. About the Celadon City Gym, you see, Misty and I found out something really important,” Brock told him.

“Really? What did you found out?” Ash asked them.

“That the owner of the shop we were in is the Celadon City Gym Leader. She also sells perfumes. If you say to her that you like perfumes then she’ll accept your challenge and battle you,” Misty told him.

“But… that would be lying,” Ash muttered.

Misty and Brock exchanged a ‘well duh’ kind of look with each other.

Ash bit his lip. He realized he would’ve have to convince the Gym Leader to battle with him some other way, but lying was something he would definitely not do.

Just then he saw Gary and his cheerleaders sit inside their red sports car. They were talking really loudly, so much, that it could be heard across the street.

“So we are leaving Celadon now, right Gary,” the cheerleader named Lucy asked him, as she sat in the driver’s seat.

“No, actually I was thinking that since I have won five badges already, and you all really seem to like the shops over here, we can stay a couple more days and explore the city,” Gary suggested.

His cheerleaders seemed to like the idea as some of them squealed with joy upon hearing that.

Lucy started the car and off they went, probably to some other part of the city.

“Great, the cheerleaders are staying here for a couple more days,” Brock spoke looking really happy for some reason.

“Oh, stop it Brock! You always become like this around pretty girls!” Misty scolded him, “We should be thinking about how to help Ash right now. He has to challenge the Gym Leader.”

“Actually, I was thinking that maybe I can postpone challenging her to tomorrow or something. I have got some work to do today,” Ash told his friends.

Misty and Brock gaped at him in surprise. Even Pikachu looked shocked.

“Am I hearing right? Ash Ketchum is prioritizing something else over challenging a Gym Leader?” Misty wondered.

“And what is this important work that you have got to do?” Brock asked him.

“Find a purple shade of nail polish,” Ash told his friends in a mysterious tone.

* * *

 

Gary Oak let out another sigh. He was seriously beginning to wonder whether he had taken the right decision by deciding to stay in Celadon for a couple more days, because his cheerleaders had now made it their goal to explore every single shop in the city.

Gary found himself standing outside yet another shop waiting for his cheerleaders for the umpteenth time. Finally, feeling really tired, he decided to sit in his car and rest for some time.

He had just walked slightly closer to his car, when he saw a familiar looking yellow-colored tail disappear around the corner of the street. Gary wondered for a second whether it was Ash’s Pikachu, but rejected that idea almost the next instant. Ash would most likely be busy challenging the Gym Leader today; he or his Pikachu wouldn’t have time to play hide-and-seek with Gary.

Gary opened the door of his usual seat, the one next to the driver’s, and was about to sit inside when he noticed a small gift wrapped in bright red and green gift-wrap. Next to the gift was a small card with a Pokeball broken in two halves clumsily drawn on it.

Gary’s heart started beating rapidly upon noticing the Pokeball drawing. He had a feeling he knew now why he had seen Pikachu earlier.

He opened the card and all it said was: - _From your childhood best-friend and crush!_

Gary was shocked. Was this actually from Ash then? But how did he know that he had been Gary’s crush in the past? Or was he Gary’s crush even now?

Gary shook his head immediately. He really needed to clear his head and stop having such confusing thoughts. Instead, he focused his attention on the gift lying in the seat of his car.

With slightly trembling hands, Gary unwrapped the gift. Inside was a small bottle of nail polish, bright purple in color. It was the exact shade as Gary’s shirt.

Despite being really tired that day, a slow smile began forming on Gary Oak’s lips, as he realized exactly when and how Ash must have heard about the nail polish and the crush part. The fact that Ash was okay with it and had even taken the trouble of finding a rare shade of nail polish for Gary made him really happy.

“The next time we meet Ashy-boy, we are going to discuss these things face-to-face and in more detail,” Gary said to himself.

* * *

**Note:- Hope you all enjoyed this! :)**

 

 

 

 

 

 


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